Muscle tightness or weakness causes discomfort and alters normal joint function, leading to additional problems. Your chiropractor will target tight or weak muscles with specific therapeutic stretching and strengthening to help increase tissue flexibility, build strength, and ease the pain. Healthy, strong, and flexible muscles may help prevent re-injury.

Overworked muscles often become tight and develop knots or "trigger points". Chronic tightness produces inflammation and swelling that ultimately leads to the formation of "adhesions" between tissues. Your provider will apply pressure with their hands, or with specialized tools, in order to release muscle tightness and soft-tissue adhesions. This will help to improve your circulation, relieve pain and restore flexibility.

Your provider may find joints in your body that are not moving freely. This can cause tightness and discomfort and can accelerate unwanted degeneration. Your provider will apply a gentle force with their hands, or with handheld instruments, in order to restore motion to any "restricted" joints. Sometimes a specialized table will be used to assist with these safe and effective "adjustments". Joint manipulation improves flexibility, relieves pain, and helps maintain healthy joints.

Your nervous system must work closely with your muscles to tell them when and where to move. Over time, your body begins to automatically remember "patterns" of movement - like riding a bicycle. Sometimes, pain or injury can trigger your nervous system to "learn" bad movement patterns that can perpetuate problems. Your provider may perform a very specialized type of soft tissue therapy called Neuromuscular Re-education (NMR) to help you "re-learn" proper patterns of movement and restore your range of motion, balance, and coordination.

PNF stretching, or proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, is a specialized stretching technique that is considered one of the most effective ways to relax tight muscles. Your provider will guide you through a series of moves to repeatedly contract, relax and progressively stretch your tight muscles. PNF stretching has been shown to help improve flexibility and performance.

IASTM is another option to resolve pain and tightness in the body. This approach to fascial work reduces friction which allows for precision, sensitivity, and depth that cannot be accomplished with the hands, knuckles, elbows, etc. IASTM instruments make it easier to detect and treat fascial dysfunction. They magnify the abnormalities (scars, restrictions, and adhesions) in the fascia and make it easier to locate the area to treat. Using a tool focuses the force through an area smaller than your finger with less friction which allows a more efficient treatment. The goal is to trigger an inflammatory healing response. This will stimulate the production of new collagen and proper, functional, pain-free healing.

The SFMA is our clinical assessment for those who experience pain. It is a movement based diagnostic system which systematically finds the cause of pain - not just the source - by logically breaking down dysfunctional movement patterns in a structured, repeatable assessment.

Cupping is an ancient practice that involves placing special glass, ceramic, bamboo, or plastic cups on the skin to create suction. Negative pressure is generated in the cup either by applying a flame to the cup to remove oxygen before placing it on the skin, squeezing the cup so that it subsequently expands, or by attaching a suction device to the cup after it is placed on the skin. The suction draws blood to the area and is thought to relieve muscle tension, improve circulation, and reduce inflammation. Cupping often leaves temporary round marks on the skin.

Your provider may apply a special elastic therapeutic tape in order to support injured areas or encourage better movement. This tape is thought to decrease pain and swelling, improve circulation and limit muscle soreness.